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OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. An OLED is a carbon-based (organic) material that emits light under electrical excitation. The light results from a type of luminescence known as fluorescence. We’re all familiar with phosphorescence, a type of luminescence used to produce ‘glow in the dark’ plastics that continue emitting light after being ‘charged up’ from another light source. Fluorescence works in a similar way, but stops producing light almost immediately after the energy source is removed. In the case of OLED displays, this energy source is electricity. Each pixel of an OLED screen consists of three separate light sources — one for each primary colour — and produces light itself, rather than relying on a backlight as an LCD does. What OLED shares with LCD, however, is the thin layer of control circuitry applied to the panel. Colour OLED displays, such as those used in OLED TVs, use an active matrix circuit (AM-OLED) similar to that used in TFT-LCDs.
The beauty of OLED screens is that, like plasmas, they only produce light where it’s needed, so they can display highly pure blacks and, as a result, almost infinite contrast ratios. Activating the pixels is also extremely fast, therefore ruling out the motion-blur problems seen on LCD screens. The colours from OLED sub-pixels are highly pure, and the pixels’ uniform emission in all directions results in wide viewing angles. What’s more, since OLED pixels can be made as small as the device requires, the screens can have very high resolutions. Last but not least, the highly efficient conversion of electricity into light means that the screens use relatively little power.
OLED has yet to make it to the HDTV mainstream. Sony, for example, has produced an 11-inch TV, the XEL-1, for the consumer market, but this tiny model costs 2,500 GBP and is therefore simply too expensive. Manufacturers have shown off various prototypes of larger models, but none have yet introduced realistic sizes for the everyday consumer. OLED clearly has the potential to overtake both plasma and LCD, but it looks like it will take the technology a few years to become established.
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Keywords:
Reviews, TV, Tvs, OLED TVs, OLED, OLED tv uk, uk tv, uk reviews |
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